Interview: NHL 25 - A New Season Begins On Xbox Series X|S

Hockey season has officially begun, and that means we've obviously got a new version of EA's NHL series to check out. NHL 25 dropped on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S last week, and there's even a 10 hour free trial for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and EA Play members - we've already blasted through those 10 hours in World of CHEL alone!

We've long been enjoying this series here at Pure Xbox, so we were excited to interview two members of the NHL 25 development team last week in the form of Senior Producer Chris Haluke and Senior Creative Director Mike Inglehart.

As part of our chat, we discussed the many new gameplay innovations in this year's version, as well as improvements to the likes of Franchise Mode and even the overall presentation. We also quizzed them on why there wasn't an Xbox One version this year, which marks the very first time since NHL 15 that the series hasn't been on that console.

So, here's our full NHL 25 interview with Chris Haluke and Mike Inglehart!

Pure Xbox: Hello! Could you please introduce yourselves and your roles on the NHL 25 team?

Chris: I’m Chris Haluke, Senior Producer for the EA SPORTS NHL franchise. Been in the industry for 20 years. I still play goalie to this day and am also a lifelong Ottawa Senators fan.

Mike: I’m Mike Inglehart, Senior Creative Director for the EA SPORTS NHL franchise. Fun fact about me is I’m a huge Buffalo Sabres fan… I just came back from the Global Series in Prague actually to watch them kick off the NHL season.

Pure Xbox: NHL 25 is being built around something called "ICE-Q" - could you sum up what that means and how it works?

Chris: ICE-Q is NHL 25’s new gameplay intelligence system. It redefines the action giving players more time and space on the ice. ICE-Q is a foundational system that supports three pillars:

Next Gen Vision Control, which gives players the ability to see and navigate the ice with more precision.

Empowered AI, which makes CPU players more agile and aware of the play.

Reactive Actions that make skaters more responsive in crucial situations.

These three elements really elevate the on-ice experience to be more dynamic and competitive.

Pure Xbox: We love the idea behind Next-Gen Vision Control - it obviously gives you much greater control in possession and opens up new possibilities such as walking the blue line. Where did your inspiration for this feature come from, and how much of an influential part of the gameplay do you think it'll end up proving?

Mike: We tend to draw a lot of our inspiration from real world hockey and how we can provide that authentic experience for players. Hockey is played in a lot of half-circles and small spaces, and Next Gen Vision Control allows players to thread the needle through an opponent’s defense to really capture that feeling of being on the ice.

The new skating system in NHL 25 allows to give players the versatility of being a triple threat in the offensive zone, giving you a chance to either take quality shots on net, accurately passing the puck to teammates, or keeping the puck in possession in baiting the defense to try to collapse leaving a bigger opening for another teammate.

We’ve also taken some inspiration from our cover athletes, The Hughes Brothers, as they exemplify precision, skill and control on the ice. They are intuitive playmakers with a heightened hockey intelligence and we want NHL 25 players to add that awareness to their in-game tendencies as well.

Pure Xbox: It's still early days of course, but we're seeing plenty of NHL fans that are really enjoying the ICE-Q improvements, along with other aspects such as the slower pace to gameplay. Is it gratifying to see this kind of feedback, and how closely do you monitor it on a regular basis?

Mike: We’re always monitoring what our players are doing and their experience with our game. It’s definitely great to see the gameplay changes resonating with our players straight out of the gate. We also want to hear all of their exciting suggestions and ideas on things that we can do in the short and long term to help make our NHL games better.

The goal for NHL 25 was to create the most fun and authentic hockey experience within the history of the franchise. And all of the components of ICE-Q were designed and tuned to work together to bring this to life. As the game cycle continues we will keep an eye on feedback and make changes where they feel appropriate but it is awesome to see how great the early response is to the gameplay experience.

Pure Xbox: We hear all the time that players are desperate for more Franchise Mode improvements in sports games, and you've put a key focus on this in NHL 25. Can you go over some of the biggest new features we're seeing in this area?

Mike: Franchise Mode was a big area of focus for us on NHL 25, and we have some updates we think the community will really be excited about. First, the new Franchise hub makes for a much more streamlined experience, giving players easy access to all the most relevant information (box scores, player stats, awards, etc.) in an easy-to-digest format. You can also now ask players to change their playstyle and set player goals, like if a player scores 20 goals it will boost his shooter ratings. Plus, we’ve updated the contract offer overlay and Collective Bargaining Agreement with support for No Trade and No Movement clauses now available for each contract year, and the new conversation functions really enhance the negotiation process and make it more intuitive.

We have also added in a new Contract Negotiations system design to really capture the back and forth that occurs between GM’s and players when it comes to the free agent season. Players will have things they are looking for within a team they want to sign with and you need to do your best to meet those needs. This makes landing a high profile free agent all the more rewarding, or heartbreaking if they walk. From contract length, value, market size, role on your team and battling other teams vying for this same player, it takes smart conversations and negotiations to bring the best players to your team.

Pure Xbox: And in terms of Be A Pro, while the mode hasn't had a major overhaul for a while, would you say the ICE-Q improvements (particularly in regards to AI) make a big difference when embarking on a career as a single skater or goalie this year? Willing to tease what's next for BaP in the future...?

Chris: The ICE-Q gameplay system is reflected in all of NHL 25’s modes including Be A Pro. The mode also benefits from some of the awesome new Franchise Mode features including improved stat tracking with game logs, split stats and an awards tracker within player information. We’re focused on NHL 25 and have some surprise unannounced content still coming for players in the future, but I can tell you that we absolutely hear the player feedback surrounding a desire for something new in Be A Pro and welcome the community to voice their thoughts on what they’d like to see us do for future games.

Pure Xbox: We noticed you dropped Xbox One from the list of platforms this year too, making NHL 25 a true current-gen experience! What was the reason for that, and did it have anything to do with the upgraded player models?

Chris: We were focused on making the best version of NHL 25 possible, and with new features like ICE-Q and SAPIEN technology, we felt we needed current-gen consoles to be able to create the level of authenticity we wanted to achieve.

Pure Xbox: Speaking of upgraded player models, there's a cool new "Infinite Camera System" in NHL 25 - it seems you've added a lot more replays that have more unique and authentic camera angles. We love presentation things like this... why and how did you implement this feature?

Mike: The Infinite Camera System was designed to create a more authentic broadcast feel to our in game replays and make the product feel more connected to what you see on television. The system itself is designed with a collection of different camera types, lenses, zoom functions and other tools that a logic system uses to determine the best way to shoot a replay package. You can think of this along the lines of a television replay producer being right inside the game. Then depending on the game moment the logic will choose the right tools and techniques to bring the replay to life creating variety and a more authentic feel to the presentation. It is important to also say that this system does a fantastic job of showing off all of the new Next Gen Visuals that the game has to offer as well.

Pure Xbox: Last year there was some criticism over NHL 24 and EA Sports FC 24 removing certain presentation features (particularly pre-game) in favour of a more streamlined experience. This year though, you've clearly put a lot of effort into this new camera system and other features such as the "Grudge Match" to enhance the overall presentation. What was your mindset going into NHL 25 from a presentation standpoint?

Mike: Grudge Match was inspired by the historic and passionate rivalries that exist within the NHL, and on a nightly basis depending on who your opponent is, some nights are “Not just another game.” Those matchups are circled on the calendar because the history between teams means the emotion and stakes on the line ramp up the intensity and anticipation. Those are the emotional peaks and storylines we wanted to highlight to change the pace of how games play out over time.

Grudge Matches track the head to head history between two teams including overall wins & losses as well as the last five games for recency. Each team will also feature an Impact Player in every Grudge Match that is selected based on relative statistical performance in the previous match up.

This feature exists in Season, Franchise Mode, Be A Pro, HUT Rivals and EASHL Clubs. Within the offline authentic modes, NHL teams will have specific connections to other teams based on the history of the league. So storied rivalries like the Battle of Alberta, Battle of Ontario and Battle of the Hudson amongst many others can expect to be seen. Teams can also create new grudges based on games played throughout each season as well.

In HUT Rivals and EASHL Clubs the idea was to start building these rivalries within our most competitive online modes and track the history between teams and reward players for their time invested in the product. So as the game cycle pushes ahead, you will come across teams who you have played in the past bringing bigger stakes to the table and changing the experience.

We are super excited about the energy and change of pace Grudge Match offers to the game and think our players will enjoy living out real world NHL passion as well as writing their own stories in our social game modes.

As we mentioned we always want to push the envelope in unveiling that amped up feeling of a hockey game. SAPIEN Technology opened up a lot of things for us including cloth warping, strand hair, ice particles flying everywhere and of course the in-game characters being more realistic than ever. We’re also using a brand-new universal 3D platform called Hypestage that produces dynamic and immersive storytelling moments during key games and live events throughout the year. We hope that these features make each hockey match feel different and in some cases more grandeur.

Pure Xbox: Online is obviously a big part of the NHL games - what improvements have you made to the likes of World of CHEL and Ultimate Team this year compared to NHL 24?

Chris: One of the big changes coming to World of CHEL is the addition of Live Events. These offer a rotating schedule of unique game experiences to help keep the mode fresh all year long. It will be a mix of casual and competitive experiences, with mode types like THREES, EASHL 3v3, and EASHL 6v6. They also feature a collection of different structures and rewards providing a great way to change up the World of CHEL experience and truly offering something new for everyone.

The first event that we just ran was a “94 Rewind,” which I personally really enjoyed. It was a throwback to NHL 94, with pixelated graphics and no fatigue gameplay.

Hockey Ultimate Team is also getting some big improvements, like HUT Wildcard and the new XP Progression System. HUT Wildcard introduces new rulesets for every competition cycle, like different salary cap systems or having a specific number of players from a certain team, in a way that will keep things fresh for players with each new cycle. The XP Progression System brings all of the XP earned in Squad Battles, Rivals, and Wild Card into a single progression path, so that every HUT mode rewards you the same.

Pure Xbox: Not to put you on the spot or anything, but we're keen to know what ONE feature you're particularly proud of in NHL 25.

Mike: It is difficult to pick just one but the ICE-Q package would be at the top of my list. The combination of Next Gen Vision Control, Empower AI and Reactive Actions came together nicely and, while we were bullish on how the game was playing in the development cycle, seeing that same reaction land with our player base has definitely created something for the team to be very proud of.

Chris: With ICE-Q already accounted for, Skill Based One Timers stands out for me. We wanted to create that pinnacle gameplay moment that brings so much anticipation to hockey on both sides of the ice. We have delivered against that promise and have added a great new gameplay moment that fills each game with heightened emotion and excitement.

Pure Xbox: Finally, is there anything else you'd like to say to the Pure Xbox community following NHL 25's full release? Hockey season has finally begun and we can't wait to spend the next 12 months with this game!

Chris: First, we thank you for being a part of this journey with us in elevating the sport of hockey further. We appreciate it and it’s fun. We also want to say that there’s still more to come in the coming months with some surprising new features that we can’t wait for our players to check out. We’ll be sharing more on these on our social channels.

We'd like to thank Chris and Mike for chatting with us! NHL 25 is available to purchase right now on the Xbox Store, and as mentioned, you can play 10 hours of it for FREE with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate / EA Play!